This study compared the effects of an elaborated unit of instruction and a hierarchical unit on students' online processing activities, efficiency of encoding new information, and facility in solving problems. Participants were six education graduate students rated as novices on the to-be-learned content--a unit on the principles of photography. Two versions of the unit were developed, a hierarchical version and a modified elaboration version. The elaborated version contained an epitome which introduced variables affecting picture quality and established the relationship between the variables. The results of analysis of the read-think-aloud protocols completed by each participant showed that participants responding to the hierarchical version performed many more elaborations than participants responding to the elaborated version. In addition, the hierarchical group performed more of the embedded practice items than the elaboration group. Finally, the average reading time of a targeted section for the hierarchical group was 8.3 minutes, compared to 6.0 minutes for the elaboration group. This reading time difference was expected, as the elaboration group had been exposed to an epitome which facilitated the encoding of new information within an already established cognitive structure of the basic relationships among variables. One table is included. (15 references) (EW)